I spent lunch time today with my family. On the days I am able to do this, it is usually a highlight of my day (my family consists of my lovely wife and 4 beautiful daughters - under 5yrs old). I’m not sure if today would qualify as a highlight, since I spent most of the time cleaning up throw-up out of a car seat and clothes and holding a smelly 14 month-old. Don’t get me wrong, I still loved being able to be with the fam, but now I’m wondering if the lingering smell on me will be noticed during my afternoon meetings.
Thoughts on throw-up… usually vomit is the result of either something bad working inside of us (a virus or bacteria) or something bad that we put into ourselves (spoiled food, too much alcohol, etc). When there is something bad working inside of us, or we fill ourselves with something our body wasn’t intended to ingest, we are not surprised when something ugly comes back out.
Why did it take me years of working with youth to stop being surprised when occasionally something ugly came out of them (language, violence, anger, attitude)? Look at what they and our society put into them (racism, poverty, absentee parents, the media, anger, violence, etc). Add on top of that the sickness of sin working from within, and it makes more sense to expect some ugliness than to be shocked by it.
The challenge is to love in the midst of cleaning up the vomit (literal and figurative). This is easier to do with my own children, but I thank God he is helping me learn how to do it with the others he brings my way as well.
-Jack Crowley (Teen Haven Director)
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4 comments:
Wow! That was really well written. I am sure i will remember it for a while. Thanks for letting God use you and your life to tell His story. -Leah
Wish more ppl would think like this.
Jack,
Interesting start...vomit.
Phil
Phil -
Hopefully starting with vomit won't scare people off. But then again, if vomit would bother them, do they really want to hear about life at a Rescue Mission?
-JC
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